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Typical vent heater & light fan venting system wiring adapted from Delta Breez Model RAD80L - Contact Delta at www.deltabreez.com (C) InspectApedia.comBathroom Ventilation Fan Wiring Guide
Bathroom exhaust vent wiring installation

Bath vent fan electrical wiringinstallation, troubleshooting, repair:

How to wire a bathroom vent fan, how to install bathroom venting. How to make the proper electrical connections to wire a bathroom exhaust vent fan or a fan incorporating also a light and a heater. Bath vent fan wiring diagrams including bath vents with light or heater.

Broan & Nutone ventilation fan wiring instruction manuals.

This article series describes how to install bathroom ventilation systems, fans, ducts, terminations. We include bathroom venting code citations and the text also explains why bathroom vent fans are needed and describes good bath vent fan choices, necessary fan capacity, and good bath vent fan and vent-duct installation details.

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Bath Vent Fan Wiring Connections

Simple fan only wiring for a Nutone Model 8814R and similar bath vent fans (C) Inspectapedia.com adapted from Nutone www.nutone.com Typically the bathroom vent fan motor is powered by the bathroom ceiling light fixture circuit; some installers, particularly in hotels or rental units, hard-wire the bath exhaust vent fan to force it on when the bathroom ceiling light is on - thus assuring that the vent fan is in fact used. If the bath vent fan is noisy this forced-on status can annoy everybody.

In the simplest case there will be just three fan wires to connect: black to black (the hot or live or power wire), white to white (the neutral wire), and ground to ground, typically a bare ground in the house wiring to a green ground wire in the fan housing wiring set.

The most general fan wiring instructions will state: "Hook up the bath vent fan wiring by removing the electrical junction box cover. Next connect the house wires to the fan wires: ground to ground, neutral white to neutral white, and hot black to hot black."

Do not just twist or tape wire ends together. Wire connections are made using a twist-on connector ("Wire nut").

[Click to enlarge any image]

If the bath exhaust fan includes a separate light the light may use the same power circuit as the fan but will require its own switching circuit. If the bath vent fan includes a separate electric heater, the heater will usually require its own separate circuit and control switch.

But when the fan includes also a light and perhaps an electric heater there are actually three circuits to complete, each with its own controlling switch.

Shown below, electrical wiring connections for a typical fan, light, & heater combination vent fan system, are adapted from installation instructions for the Delta Breez Model RAD80L installation manual cited below.

Watch out: if a bath vent fan, light, or heater are installed close to a tub or shower or where they can be reached by someone in those facilities GFCI protection is required for all of its electrical circuits.

See GFCI PROTECTION, GFCI CODES

Typical vent heater & light fan venting system wiring adapted from Delta Breez Model RAD80L - Contact Delta at www.deltabreez.com (C) InspectApedia.com

Watch out: Electrical wiring should be done by a licensed, qualified expert. If the fan is installed close to a tub or shower, such that it could be touched from those locations, it's electrical circuit should be GFCI protected.

Never put electrical controls such as switches where they can be reached from a bathtub or bathroom shower.

Typical wiring instructions for a bathroom vent fan that includes both a light and a heater state the following - note that these adapted excerpts and are NOT complete installation instructions nor may they match your specific fan. Be sure to obtain the proper installation instructions for your fan brand and model:

Wiring details for a fan heater light combination adapted from Delta Breez Model RAD80L installation instrucations (C) InspectApedia.com

Remove the fan junction box cover a . Using wire nuts (not supplied), connect house wires to fan wires b as shown in the wiring diagram on page 10. Wire connections are as follows: black to live switch wire, white to neutral, green to ground.

Reattach fan junction box cover c .

Check the plug from the fan into the receptacle marked “Vent”

Plug the Light Connector into the receptacle marked “Light”

Bath vent fan installation instruction manuals & Manufacturer contact Info

NuTone® 110 CFM, 1.5 Sones ChromaComfort™ w/ Sensonic™ Bluetooth® Speaker at InspectApedia.com

Illustration: the Broan / Nutone ChromaComfort Exhaust Fan including a programmable light and bluetooth-controlled speaker.

Utilitech bath vent & light combo wiring details and manuals given here (C) InspectApedia.com Illustration: the Utilitech bath exhaust vent fan and light combo.

 

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Question: Where can I find instructions for my Broan NuTone bathroom ceiling fan and bluetooth control?

Do you have possibly instructions for my electrician how to install my Broan NuTone bathroom ceiling fan for independent usage of fan and Bluetooth?

Where could I find sich details? Website link?

I saw some information on separately functiong light, fan etc. but nothing on Bluetooth (or I missed it). - Anonymous by private email 2022/08/17

Moderator reply:

Sure, glad to help.

See the Bluetooth setup and pairing instructions at

BROAN NuTone ChromaComfort Sensonic INSTRUCTIONS [PDF] Ventilation Fan with Multi-Colored Chroma LEDs and Bluetooth® Speaker -

Above on this page you'll see several instruction manuals that give details on installing various models of bluetooth controlled Broan or Nutone exhaust fans, lights, and built-in blue-tooth speakers.

On 2021-01-16 by (mod) - wiring details for the Utilitech bath exhaust vent fan & light

Bath exaust vent fan and light wiring details (C) InspectApedia.com adapted ferom Utilitech vent fan installation instructions provided here (C) InspectApedia.com

It certainly looks to me as if in your wiring diagram all of the black wires are being connected together to a single common hot input.

Shown here is a typical wiring instruction drawing from the Utilitech fan installation manual given in the bath vent installation and wiring manual links above.

[Click to enlarge any image]

On 2021-01-15 - by (mod) -

I'll take a look at your diagram and reply asap

For other readers: see these example vent fan installation manuals given just above on this page.

On 2021-01-14 by BF

Bathroom exhaust vent fan wiring diagram (C) InspectAPedia.com reader BF

I took closer look at the label on each wire and am including the wiring diagram. I see where the Red wire and one White wire are labeled for the Night Light, which I do not need.

That still leaves me with two black wires coming from the fan with quick connects and only one black wire coming from the switch, (same with the white wires).

Should I cut the quick connects off and wire nut the three wires together? And what do I do with the red wire coming from the switch?

[Click to enlarge any image]

On 2021-01-14 by (mod) - wiring the Utilitech Model 7108-03-L Ventilation Fan with Light.

Wiring for the Utilitech Model 7108-03-L Ventilation Fan with Light (C) InspectApedia.comAll of the black wires go to the hot incoming black wire of which you have only one feeding the device, which in turn tells me that your fan and light are going to be switched on simultaneously.

Most likely the two black wires in the fan light unit allow you to switch the light or the fan on and off separately if you have separate feeds for them.

Normally all of the white wires are neutral wires. So they would all connect to the neutral wire in your circuit.

But you need to take a look at the wiring diagram for your fan light.

For Example, I don't know what that red is switching. We would identify that in the instructions.

On 2021-01-14 by BF

I have a Utilitech Model 7108-03-L Ventilation Fan with Light. The fan wiring has the quick connects with two white wires on one. One white wire on another. Two black wires each on their own connect. One red wire on a connect and finally the green connect.

I am wiring into 14/3 wire with one white, one black, one red and a bare ground. My question is how do I connect my one white to two connects and the same with the one black to two connects?

On 2020-11-22 - by (mod) -

I'm puzzled, too, SK

On fan wiring the green wire is usually an electrical ground connection - that would connect to the circuit ground and the box ground. Sometimes the manufacturer gives an extra ground wire to connect to the metal box of the fan enclosure and to the metal electrical wiring junction box ground.

On 2020-11-21 by SK

Where /How to connect two green wires are coming out of Breeze Easy Ventilation fan

On 2020-08-29 by Acheampong Bismark

Please which cable is use to wire the vent ?

On 2018-11-20 - by (mod) -

You should be able to extend the existing junction box with a shell, perfectly legally. The old trenches is to remove the existing junction box and assault a larger one in its place.

On 2018-11-19 by Kurt

I'd like to replace a bathroom ceiling light with a fan/light combo. The existing ceiling box has more wires running through it that the new fan/light can accommodate. Can I attach a junction box to the fan/light to accommodate the existing armored cable wiring and then just run leads into the fan/light to connect that fixture?

The junction box would be in the ceiling and attached to the fan/light and only be accessible by pulling the fan/light/junction box unit from the ceiling. It's 2 x 6 ceiling joist with a finished floor above so ideally all work has to be done from below. Thanks

On 2018-03-31 by Dee

I have 4 switches in my bathroom 1-vent fan light, 1-vent fan, 1-heater fan and 1-vanity light. The main power in line has a single black wire linked to all 4 switches at the bottom. All grounds are bound with wire nut and grounded to switch box by pigtail.

All white wires are bound together by wire nut. When I connect the black wires from each item to the top of switches the fuse in breaker box either trips or makes arching sound and only 1 or 2 item will function.

Prior to problem I had to run a new wire due to a cut in wire I did not trust but everything was working fine. The light switches are good but from early 1980's when house was built. How do I fix this?

Question: electrical wiring connections for the bath vent fan?

(May 23, 2016) Cherie carmona said:

I am attempting to install our bathroom fan, after removing old one discovered, there are other wire connections that are all together, for other power sources, one for fan, one power source for other room, and another, do I just hook them all back together?

Reply:

Cherie with apologies because we'd prefer to be helpful, I simply can't risk your life, the lives of others, and the risk of burning down the building by guessing at what wires are present and how they should be connected. I just have so little information that speculating sounds dangerous.

In some jurisdictions homeowners are permitted to do their own wiring but still require an electrical inspection; what does your local building department say? I know it's costly to hire an electrician to do one trivial hookup; perhaps there is other electrical work that can be combined?

Watch out: certainly DO NOT just twist a bunch of wires together: in the best case you'll trip a breaker or blow a fuse; in a worse case somebody could be shocked or killed or you could start a fire.

Typically a hot wire brings power to the fan, there may be other powered wires that are switched that bring current to a light or to a heater or to all three. It's true that neutral wires may be connected in common.

Find the fan's wiring instructions by noting its brand and model and then asking the manufacturer for an installation guide. Usually those are free and can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website. Wiring details may also be on a sticker in the fan appliance itself.

Question: bath vent fans not working even though wired-up

(June 2, 2016) Mark said:

At work, each bathroom has an industrial exhaust fan - 4 in total that don't work. I know this sounds crazy, but they appear wired. The only thing I can access is a small 1.5 inch by 2 inch single screw metal cover.

When removed, I can see a Yellow/Green wire - ground, going from a green screw, to a pigtail containing 2 more wires - common and neutral - I assume - Black and White. Since it's only a single-speed fan, there are only 3 wires total - unlike the blower motors used in HVAC. Oh, I forgot to mention that this exhaust fan is looks like a blower motor out of an HVAC system, but about 1/2 the size.

Anyway, I can see that from one pigtail connection, one end goes to the motor of course, and the other, the green/yellow goes to that green ground screw, but I cannot tell where the black and white go (somewhere up to the top of the assembly. Here's the strange part - there aren't any wires going out of the unit - nor do I see a place for them to exit.

There also isn't your typical 'notch/bump" in that little cover to allow the ground to come out of there either. Is it possible that they installed these things and NEVER hooked them up? Or, it is possible the power feed comes in and exits through the 12" commercial insulation style exhaust pipe that is taped to the top of the unit?

This one has me scratching my head, but since none of them work when you turn the light on (only 1 switch in each bathroom), I assume the expensive units were installed 10+ years ago and never hooked up. There isn't a SPECK of dust in the fan/motor blade/housing.

Reply:

Sounds like mis-wiring as well as sounding like a need for someone experienced to test for live voltage and trace the circuits and switches involved.


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